I was a conman in the Ming Dynasty.

Chapter 549 Rat crossing the street

Chapter 549 A Rat Crossing the Street

Three days later, at the residence of the Duke of Zhongyi.

Wang Wenzhou stood in the courtyard, holding a torch.

Liu Rushi, both amused and exasperated, advised, "Wang Wenzhou, stop fooling around. Why do you want to burn down such a perfectly good mansion?"

Wang Wenzhou said irritably, "I don't want anything from a pig!"

Wang Ying stood to the side, feeling wronged and unwilling to speak. For the past three days, her nemesis had been acting like a madman, bullying her in every way imaginable. It was all because her nemesis had suffered a loss at Zhu Youjian's hands, but she had long since severed ties with Zhu Youjian. Yet, her nemesis was being unreasonable, taking out all his anger on her.

Over these three days, Wang Wenzhou finally understood what it meant to be pushed around when someone is down on their luck.

The civil and military officials were overjoyed to learn that Wang Wenzhou had been dismissed from his post and reduced to commoner status. For the next three days, they occupied all the major taverns and brothels in the capital to celebrate this gratifying event. Even more outrageous, every evening, the residences of several officials near the Duke of Zhongyi's mansion would be set off with a great deal of firecrackers.

What angered Wang Wenzhou even more was the attitude of the people towards him. In the past, the people called him Wang Qingtian (a paragon of justice), but now, it was already considered a favor if they didn't curse him as a great traitor to his face.

Wang Wenzhou found that he could no longer stay in the capital. Not to mention anything else, every day when he walked on the street, he was treated like a rat crossing the street, and people talked about him behind his back. It was simply inhuman treatment.

That evening, the servants in the Duke of Zhongyi's mansion finally finished packing and prepared to leave.

Wang Wenzhou thought for a moment. This mansion was bestowed upon him by Zhu Youjian. Since he didn't want to return to the capital, this place of sorrow, he might as well burn it down and make Zhu Youjian angry.

But Liu Rushi felt a pang of heartache. It was such a nice house; even if they didn't live there now, their daughters could live there in the future. Land in the capital was incredibly valuable; even with money, it would be difficult to buy such a large mansion in such a prime location.

Liu Rushi took Wang Wenzhou's arm and said softly, "Wang Wenzhou, I know you have resentment in your heart, but the house is your own property. If you burn it down, it's us who will be heartbroken. This is our home!"

Wang Wenzhou knew that given Liu Rushi's temper, if he dared to act this way under any other circumstances, he would have been slapped across the face long ago. It was only because Liu Rushi knew he was in a bad mood that she was gently persuading him. Therefore, if he wanted to burn down the house, he would have to get past Liu Rushi first.

Wang Wenzhou thought for a moment, then hugged Liu Rushi and kissed her, saying with a smile, "Rushi, as the saying goes, the squeaky wheel gets the grease, and the girl who knows how to be charming gets the boy to sleep with her. I'm just being charming to Zhu Youjian!"

Liu Rushi rolled her eyes at Wang Wenzhou. What nonsense is this? You are a grown man, how can you compare yourself to the emperor's male favorite?

Seeing that Liu Rushi still hadn't figured it out, Wang Wenzhou continued, "Rushi, with Zhu Youjian's pig brain, he can't manage the Ming Dynasty. Originally, the two of us agreed to strike at the Donglin Party to weaken its influence on the court. But this pig, I don't know how much dog shit he's eaten, actually joined forces with the Donglin Party to bully me!"

"Haha!" Wang Wenzhou laughed loudly and said, "He will reap what he sows sooner or later. What kind of people are the Donglin Party? If they were truly loyal to the emperor and loved their country, would the Ming Dynasty be in this state now, beset by internal and external troubles, with rebels rising up all over the country and foreign Tartars eyeing it covetously?"

Wang Wenzhou said irritably, "They are a bunch of bastards who only care about their own interests. They keep talking about loyalty to the emperor and patriotism. Are they patriots? They are patriotic thieves! They use the banner of patriotism to fight for power and profit, all for their own selfish interests."

Liu Rushi shook her head with a wry smile. She knew her nemesis was in a bad mood and was too embarrassed to argue with him. "You still have the nerve to talk about the Donglin Party? Compared to the rotten things you've done, the Donglin Party is a hundred times better than you."

Wang Wenzhou kissed Liu Rushi and said with a smile, "With the help of this group of patriotic traitors, the Ming Dynasty will not be well. When the time comes, that pig Zhu Youjian will have to ask me to come out of seclusion! Am I the kind of person who can just leave like that? He was the one who wanted to separate, so he just left. Now he wants to use patriotism to coax me back? I am not someone who can just leave whenever he wants."

"You nemesis!" Liu Rushi rolled her eyes at Wang Wenzhou. This nemesis was actually singing a song.

Wang Wenzhou said with a smile, "Now that I've burned down the mansion, if Zhu Youjian wants my help again in the future, he'll have to offer an even bigger house and greater benefits before I'll come out of seclusion."

Liu Rushi didn't know where her nemesis got the confidence that Zhu Youjian would still employ him. But she believed that with her nemesis's talent, if the Ming Dynasty were to fall into crisis in the future, as long as her nemesis took action, no matter what the crisis was, he could easily solve it.

"Fine! Burn it then!" Liu Rushi said irritably.

……

Zhang Fengyi's residence.

Mu Yiyun was dressed as a eunuch, followed by several guards, while Zhang Fengyi knelt on the ground to receive the imperial decree.

Mu Yiyun spoke up: "By the grace of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: Zhang Fengyi, the former Minister of War, neglected his duties during the battle with the Tartars, which led to the Tartars' invasion of the capital. His crime is unforgivable! Zhang Fengyi, in consideration of your past loyalty to the country, I hereby bestow upon you a cup of poison."

"Huh?" Zhang Fengyi could hardly believe his ears. Your Majesty, how could you be so cruel! This old minister has already taken the blame, yet you still won't let it go and insist on taking this old minister's life!

Mu Yiyun said, "Lord Zhang, please accept the imperial decree and express your gratitude!"

When the ruler commands the subject to die, the subject has no choice but to die. Although Zhang Fengyi was unhappy, things had come to this point, and for the sake of his family, he could only accept reality.

"I accept the imperial decree and express my gratitude!" At this moment, Zhang Fengyi cursed Zhu Youjian's ancestors for eight generations, and had already cursed the founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang.

Mu Yiyun took the poisoned wine from the guard beside her and handed it to Zhang Fengyi, saying, "Lord Zhang, please finish this quickly, I still have to return to the palace to report."

"Father-in-law, I have a favor to ask. May I say a few words to my family?" When facing death, no one, no matter who they are, will be worried about their family.

Mu Yiyun nodded and said, "Lord Zhang, go and return quickly."

Zhang Fengyi quickly stuffed the silver note into Mu Yiyun's hand, cupped his hands, and said, "This old man thanks you, sir!"

Watching Zhang Fengyi's retreating figure, Mu Yiyun smiled slightly.

Since Wang Wenzhou was imprisoned by Zhu Youjian, Mu Yiyun hasn't been idle either. Like the other children, Mu Yiyun has been running around. Of course, unlike Liu Rushi and the others, Mu Yiyun's aim in bribing the ministers was to get Zhu Youjian to kill Wang Wenzhou.

Of course, Mu Yiyun absolutely did not want to see Wang Wenzhou die. The reason she did this was to make Wang Wenzhou break with Zhu Youjian, so that her enemy would side with the Qing Dynasty.

Wang Wenzhou has now been dismissed from his post and reduced to a commoner by Zhu Youjian, which is exactly the result Mu Yiyun wanted. However, no matter what, Wang Wenzhou's imprisonment was Mu Yiyun's fault. In order to please Wang Wenzhou, Mu Yiyun risked her life by falsely conveying an imperial edict to take Zhang Fengyi's life.

After giving his instructions, Zhang Fengyi drank the poisoned wine and died from the poison.

Mu Yiyun smiled slightly, it was time to go and appease her nemesis in the Qing Dynasty.